Postai és Távközlési Múzeumi Alapítvány Évkönyve, 1997
Rövid tartalmi összefoglaló angol nyelven
contributed to the development of the electronic picture pick-up tube, by discovering the principle of charge storage. Mrs Gergely Kovács: In memory of Béla Tomcsányi Most of the first generation of engineers to work on broadcasting transmissions in Hungary were born between 1890 and 1910-too soon to avoid the sufferings of the First World War. Some had finished their university studies and some interrupted them, only to find themselves in the hell of Przemysl or Doberdo. Then, freed from prisoner-of-war camp, they underwent the trials of the 1918 revolution, the commune of 1919, occupation of parts of the country by Romanian, Czech and Serbian forces, and the Treaty of Trianon, signed on June 4, 1920. After Trianon, which reduced Hungary’s territory by two-thirds, the earlier ruling class of the country gave way to a new elite with much greater social sensitivity and commitment, intent on society’s economic and moral advance. A decisive role in this elite was played by engineers, who disseminated technical cultivation and technical advance, ensuring that the latest inventions were quickly adopted and developed further, to make people’s lives easier, richer and more worthwhile. They also realized that the elite sets the patterns of behaviour for society. They sought to exemplify a noble, discriminating pattern of life that entailed constant self-improvement, readiness and discipline. The work of one prominent member of that generation of engineers is especially worth studying. Béla Tomcsányi was born on June 2,1897 in Rimaszombat (Rimavská Sobota), and was educated in Kassa (Kosice), Debrecen and Budapest. He was called up in the summer of 1915, and served for three years in the mountain-telephone section of the 310th Honvéd Regiment. There he encountered radio, which was to be his life’s work, and there he lost his infectious good-humour, becoming a more introverted, lonely, preoccupied person. Tomcsányi enrolled at the Budapest Technical University in November 1918. He became interested in photography and film, joining the university’s amateur photography club. Later he contributed regularly to the national technical photo exhibitions, winning a silver medal in 1920 and golds in 1922 and 1924 for pictures prepared using the rare ‘bromoil transfer’ process. Tomcsányi saw photography and film as a new art form. Knowledge and expertise were what guided Tomcsányi in all his work. He joined the Postal Experimental Station on November 15, 1926, his first job being a model for the Székesfehérvár Transmitter Station. He transferred to the radio studios in 1927. Those were the pioneer years of studio work. Tomcsányi was mainly concerned with laboratory research and measurement. He delved into what became the sound engineer’s province: directing studio transmissions, mixing dramas, conducting outside broadcasts, and introducing and installing recording apparatus to match local conditions. In 1944, as the rule of the fascist Arrow-Cross movement spread, Tomcsányi wrote a catalogue of his main projects over 18 years, under 26 heads. He attached importance to having designed and executed the first twin-microphone mixer, which allowed two microphones on stage and two in the orchestra to be tuned and mixed during opera performances. He was especially proud of his equipment to generate an interval signal. This 257
